<p>I'm a big fan of Marcus Brigstocke's comedy, and opened the book expecting it to be funny - but I didn't expect his exploration of faith to be as respectful and interesting as it was. He opens by discussing a friend of his named James, who had died young, of heart problems. </p> </br><p>This prompted a crisis in faith, and he decided to explore the major religions in search of answers. He doesn't pull punches - atheists are called on their smugness, christians on their self entitlement, muslims on their misogyny. He talks about the horrible paradox of his atheism; he isn't any happier than people with faith, and almost wishes there was a god, ..  Read the complete review

I've long been a fan of Marcus Brigstocke, finding his engaging delivery and intelligent material a breath of fresh air compared with his peers who seem currently to churn out endless clichéd observations on everyday life. "God Collar" is based on Brigstocke's Edinburgh Festival show that I wasn't able to get to so I was especially interested in reading this book. The premise of "God Collar" is that Brigstocke wants to challenge his own atheism; he wants to believe in God but can't find any compelling intellectual reasons so to do. He calls this void in his life a "God-shaped hole". The idea was spurred on by the premature death ...  Read the complete review